I recently dug out WD 211 and spent the next 5 minutes drooling over the cover art (this picture (http://img95.echo.cx/img95/3757/wightlord18jx.jpg)), and I had one of my ideas ("oh no!" I hear you say :D). So, I wrote some fluff (meow! ;)) and rules for Undead Kings, sorta the Fantasy-version of the LOTR Barrow Wights - one step up in the heirarchy from Wight Lords. I've tried the rules a few times (well, twice - I don't have unlimited free time you know :p), but I'd like you ropinions please. Thanks!

Many burial tombs litter the Old World, housing the remnants of long-dead great Kings. The Kings were buried in full armour and with their weapons, believing they would fight in the afterlife. However, these Kings of old do not always sleep soundly. With the aftermath of the Storm Of Chaos and Archaon’s assault on the Old World, magical energies have been unleashed subtly across the Old World. Not potent enough to do anything on their own, they have been ignored, dispelled or not seen at all by the Wizards of the Old World. However, these dark energies have converged with the enchanted blades of the long-dead Kings, the dark magik flowing through their bodies like water, reawakening their intelligence. These Undead Kings now stride from their tombs, ethereal mist blowing around their feet, daemonic hellfires burning bright within their eyes, their enchanted weapons glowing with unnatural energy. These dark magiks have not only given them a parody of life, but also gave them a form of Necromantic Magic, allowing them to raise the armies that served them in life. Adorned with the tattered remnants of fine robes, with corroded armour protecting their lithe forms, these Undead Kings lead their forces across the Old World. No-one knows where they are converging too, but some dark magic seems to be drawing them to a central point. The astrologers claim it is Lustria, the College of Magic claim it is Albion, the Elves claim it is Araby, and the madmen claim it is the Chaos Wastes. Wherever they are heading, the people in that area are right to worry. For while the Undead King’s grip on Necromantic magic may be weaker than that of vampires, they are possessed of an innate cunning and great martial skill, and are still able to raise legions of the Undead.

Automatically Carries Blade of the Barrows. This will be replaced if he chooses a weapon from the list. May have up to 75pts of magic items from the Vampire Counts list. May not ride a Nightmare. Only optional Upgrade is to give him Armour of the Barrows for +50pts.

Special Rules
Undead - unsurprisingly
Blade of the Barrows: Buried with the King when he died, their enchanted blade’s power has been greatly increased by the chaos energy that awoke the King.
The blade counts as a magical weapon that has the killing blow.
Armour of the Barrows: The armour worn by the Undead Kings is centuries old, yet still has the power to deflect even the strongest blows.
The Armour of the Barrows gives the Undead King a 4+ armour save that ignores all armour save modifiers. However, weapons (e.g. Great Cannons) that automatically ignore armour saves still automatically ignore the 4+ save, as do any strength 10 weapons/characters. If you choose the Armour of the Barrows, you may not choose any armour from the VC list.
Dark Energies: The Undead Kings are not true Necromancers, instead drawing their power from the dark energies that surround them. These energies give all enemy troops involved in a combat with the Undead King a –1 leadership modifier. However, to represent the Undead King’s lack of “true” magic, they can only ever be lvl 1 wizards, and the only spell they can take is Invocation of Nehek from the Necromancy spell list. They may, however, take the Book of Arkhan etc.
Barrow-Lords: The Undead Kings are Lords of their Barrows, and of the troops they command, and kneel to no-one, living or Undead. If you take an Undead King, he must be your general, and you may include no Vampires of any kind in the army. If no Lord is allowed in the army, you may take the Undead King as a hero choice, but he will take up 2 hero slots. Also, no Necromancers in the army may be above level 1, as the Undead Kings despise anyone who appears to be higher than them in martial or magical status. To summarise, if you take an Undead King then:

No Vampires
No lvl 2/3/4 Necromancers
Must be General, even in a >2000pts game

Any opinions/comments?

Thanks!

-Forgotmytea

Festus

11-06-2005, 10:23

opinions?

Broken as hell:
for 200 points you will get something with better stats than a Vampire Lord and a few magic trinkets already *built in*?

Well, raise the points to some 500ish and then we can start to talk..

...back to the drawing board, I guess...

Festus

Hideous Loon

11-06-2005, 10:47

Yeah, you should definately bump up his points cost. Not much, just a couple of 100 pts. For something that is, martially and magically, a tooled-up Vampire Count (or more...), you should be able to charge at least 420 pts. Rules-lawyers (such as myself) will point out the lack of the Undead spec.rule, so therefore he won't lose wound due to combat res., and all the other things that make the Undead the Undead. (Of course, if you play with common sense, you will, subconciously, add the rule all by yourself.) Also, will he be able to ride a Nightmare? Because it doesn't say so in his profile. And can you, if you play by the rule of :cheese:, be able to have two Undead Kings? Or is he 0-1? There are too many loose ends surrounding this character. Tie them up, and he will be formidable.

Forgotmytea

11-06-2005, 11:05

Edited. Main points:

Nope, no Nightmare.

Nope, only 1 per army. No other Vampires, no lvl 2/3/4 necromancers.

Knocked down the magic items to 75pts

Lessened weapons

Took off armour

Made armour an option

Toned down stats

Seriously rammed up points cost

And yes, he is Undead ;).

So yeah, pretty much back to the drawing board... :o :p Thanks for the advice guys! :)